KFC's Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Meal

Okay, I am not an endorser of KFC, it just so happen that I ate there yesterday for lunch and I saw this new chicken meal. I am an avid fan of salted egg flavored chips and popcorn so when I saw this, I have to taste it. From the photo on the menuboard, it looked appetizing.

Here's my verdict:

The actual product is not as coated as the one in the picture but the rice is indeed garlic rice. My bad is that I am looking for that salted egg, I didn't realized there would be none because as the name suggests, it's salted egg yolk, that gooey yellow liquid sauce. Come to think of it, usually salted egg yolks are hard because the egg itself is a boiled egg right? Oh well, they must have add water to the yolk to turn it into a sauce.

Another item I didn't ask is if the chicken is original or spicy, and when I started digging in, it is a spicy chicken variety. Just like their honey glazed chicken, the salted egg yolk did not make the chicken skin soggy. It is still crispy. And surprisingly, the salted egg yolk works with the spicy chicken, it is delicious! The garlic rice is a perfect combo with this.

For Php115.00, it comes with a drink and soup, so it's worth it.

Hirayamanawari,

Rob

Eating chicken at KFC Hong Kong with no forks

One of my surprisingly different experience in Hong Kong is eating chicken without any fork. As mentioned in my previous posts, this value meal cost me a bit high compared to what it cost here in the Philippines but this post is not about the price, it's about the experience :)

As mentioned, there's no fork. There's a spoon but it's for the rice bowl. What accompanied our chicken meal is a plastic glove! Yes! And to tell you the truth, it is much enjoyable to eat chicken with a glove. It's more sanitary but most importantly, you can attack the chicken literally to the bones!

The picture above is Neil, and look at his finished product below hahahha

See, you can make "simut" (I don't know the English word for it) and gnaw the chicken bones.

Plus the KFC store is Hong Kong is visually appealing too. I forgot to take a picture of their counter. There are belltracks to line-up. You can't just approach any of the cashiers, you wait in line until the next cashier counter is open. Moreover, they employ senior citizens as well. It was really different from what we are used to - working students, lining up in front of cashiers and forks! Their system is more organized and convenient and hopefully, this can be adopted here.

Hirayamanawari,

Rob

Sisig Rice Bowl of KFC

My understanding of sisig is that it's a dish made up of chopped meat - pork, usually, topped with fresh egg, mayo, chili and calamansi.

From the above picture, it is not in any way sisig :(

BUT that is not to say it is not delicious :)

The rice has the right amount of spice. The chicken skin crunchy. The mayo just a touch to flavor things up. I guess to truly make it into a sisig is to mash and chop and mix everything up :)

Ma Mon Luk - the Original Mami

Mami - the Chinese comfort food made up of noodles, broth, and meat (chicken or beef) has been a welcome addition to the Filipino palate. Probably the most familiar ones are those found in the fast food chains.

BUt google it and you'll probably stumble across the name Ma Mon Luk as the original who brought mami to the Philippines. That's Ma Mon Luk in the picture below.

Not many people probably know that Ma Mon Luk is just around the corner. I know they have a brach in Cubao and in Quiapo. My first encounter with Ma Mon Luk was when I was in high school way back in the '90s. My high school friends and I were in Cubao for some reason and decided to eat here. With my student allowance then, it was quite pricey but I distinctly remember the savory and delicious broth and siopao.

Fast forwarded to the present, most of the mamis I have tried are from Chowking or from roadside stands, so when a good friend asked me to accompany him to Quiapo Church, I decided to visit the original mami house.

Ma Mon Luk is located along Quezon Blvd. in between stores selling uniforms, old books. If you are coming from Quiapo Church, just go to the direction of Isetann. Walk along the sidewalk so you wouldn't miss it.

I am quite sad to see how old and dilapidated the mami house looks like. Once inside, it's so hot as the steam from the kitchen wafts to the dining. There's no aircon and the fans are so old you can barely feel the breeze. The walls are festooned with framed news articles about the store, but effort could have been made to better preserve these.

But I don't want the store's physical attributes affect my nostalgia of the best mami I tasted in the 90's. So I order their biggest bowl (the special mami at Php120.00) plus siopao and sadly, my nostalgia was brought to reality.

The brought is greasy and tasteless, and I have to add crushed pepper, calamansi, soy sauce and fish sauce to add flavor.

The serving is indeed big and filling. I may have high expectations as I was trying to match my adolescent mami to the present one, but disappointingly, it wasn't what I expected.

I couldn't say that the quality has deteriorated or I just remember the taste wrong, but if the state of the store would be my basis, I sincerely hope that the current management of Ma Mon Luk should do something to bring back the pride of being the original.It is not enough to put a slogan that it is the house of the original mami nor putting up framed news articles.

Only some few foodies may recognize the historical value of Ma Mon Luk, but for me, I hope on my next visit, things would have improved.

Hirayamanawari,

Rob